Miami Trace beats McClain to move into tie for 1st in FAC

Submitted story

Tigers at Regionals

The McClain wrestlers bid at a state tournament qualification came to an end on Wednesday night at the hands of the Athens Bulldogs, who ended up as regional runners-up themselves. McClain will have to settle for being a Region 14 Final Four team, which is a first in McClain school history. The Tigers now stand at 12-3 on the season, with their losses coming to three quality opponents: Urbana who was a Final Four team in Region 16, Miami Trace who won Region 16 and are now one of the last remaining eight teams in the state tournament, and Athens, who finished as Region 14 runners-up.

The night started out at 106 pounds where Athens decided to forfeit to Lucas Jansen and bump their 106 pounder Jonathan Kimball up to take a forfeit at 113 pounds, thus splitting even after two weight classes 6-6. Neither team have 113 or 120 pound wrestlers on their squads. After a double forfeit at 120, Brian List of Athens won a close 9-8 decision over Dawson Jansen, putting the Bulldogs up 9-6. The Bulldogs lead the entire match from here.

At 132 pounds, Chris Jackson extended AHS lead with a pin over Quinton Smith. Bill Wallace kept the ball rolling for Athens with a major decision over Jake Krafthefer in the 138 pound class.

McClain decided to forfeit to Devin Macy at 145 pounds and bump Jacob Barton to wrestle C.R. Ellis at 152. Ellis won a major decision here and extended the AHS lead to 30-6. McClain also bumped the school’s career wins leader, Keegan Rawlins from 152 to wrestle 160 against Tyler Shuler. Shuler just finished as runner up at the 27 team Jimmy Wood Invitational in New Lexington over the weekend. Keegan ran through his bigger opponent with a technical fall, getting the Tigers back on the winning track and bringing the score closer at 30-11.

Up next for McClain was Phil Waters at 170 pounds. Phil lost a close decision to Kiah Smith. The Tigers had four weight classes left and needed to win big in all four to overcome the Bulldogs and advance to the finals of Region 14. Drake George slammed the door shut for Greenfield with a pin over Kyler Trefz in the 182 pound class and won the dual meet for Athens.

Finishing the last three matches for individual records, Ethan Taylor got the Tigers first pin of the match, over Mikel Casteel at 195 pounds. It got contagious and Kade Rawlins of MHS followed that with a pin at 220 over Josh Poches. Dylan Wogerman of Athens finished out the dual meet with a pin over Kai Borrelli.

Greenfield McClain returns to action Saturday, February 3 at the 19 team Washington Court House Bracket Tournament. Wrestling begins at 9am.

Tigers at Panthers

The Miami Trace Panthers took full advantage of their opportunity on Tuesday night to tie the McClain Tigers atop the FAC standings by winning a dominating match 50-21. McClain started off strong when Kade Rawlins (220) pinned Luke Anders and lead 6-0. Miami Trace tied the score when Grant Debruin pinned Kai Borrelli in the 285 pound class. Wrapping back around to the 106 class, McClain freshman Lucas Jansen put the Tigers back up by six points by pinning Titus Lehr.

The Panthers were awarded the next twelve points via the forfeit and held the lead for the remainder of the match. At 126 pounds, Storm Duffy picked up a decision over Dawson Jansen of McClain. Mcale Callahan followed that up for the Panthers with a major decision over Quinton Smith (132.) Senior captain Wes Gandee (138) kept the momentum rolling for the home team with another major decision over freshman Jake Krafthefer. The score was Miami Trace 29 McClain 12 after eight matches. Stepping up to fill the 145 pound class for McClain, Jacob Barton took to the mat against Jaymon Flaugher and lost by pin.

McClain finally got back in the winning column when Keegan Rawlins (152) finished off Zach Tinkler with a first period pin. McClain now trailed 35-18. Also stepping up to fill a vacated spot, Zane Bode (160) lost by pin to Dylan Arnold of Miami Trace. 170 pounds was a very hard fought match with Jacob Tinkler winning a decision over Phil Waters of MHS by way of a couple penalty points. BJ Anders won by pin over Kyler Trefz of McClain in the 182 pound class. The Tigers’ Ethan Taylor capped off the night by winning the last decision over David Tyndall, making the final score 50-21 Miami Trace. McClain and Miami Trace both finish as dual meet co-champions of the FAC with 4-1 records . Miami Trace lost their dual match with Jackson in the opening week of FAC competition. McClain is now 12-2 overall on the season, with both losses coming to region 16 final four teams Miami Trace and Urbana.

Both McClain and Miami Trace are the only two FAC teams advancing to the final four teams in their regions. MHS is in region 14 and MTHS is in region 16. Both teams will be back in action tomorrow, January 31 in their regional final four. McClain will travel to Fairfield Union and face Athens in round one. Miami Trace will travel to Springfield Northwestern and face the home team in round one.

Submitted by Shane Paul the head wrestling coach for McClain High School.